Questions about the appointment and compensation of counsel, and the
authorization and payment for investigative, expert, and other services
in federal capital cases should be directed to the Office of Defender
Services (ODS), Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO), Legal
and Policy Branch Duty Day Attorney, at 202-502-3030.

Governing Statutes

The appointment and compensation of counsel and the authorization
and payment for investigative, expert, and other services in federal
capital cases are governed by 21 U.S.C. § 848(e), which was amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of l996 (AEDPA), and recodified as 18 U.S.C. § 3599.
The pertinent provisions of the AEDPA are applicable to federal capital
prosecutions and capital habeas corpus proceedings commenced (pursuant
to 28 U.S.C. § 2254
and 28 U.S.C. § 2255),
and appeals perfected, on or after April 24, 1996. In federal capital
prosecution cases, the appointment of counsel is also governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3005.

Judicial Conference Guidelines

The Guide, Volume 7, Chapter 6 provides
specific information regarding federal capital cases, including the
appointment and compensation of counsel, and the authorization and
payment for investigative, expert, and other services. Certain sections
of Volume 7, Chapters 1, 2, and 3 also include pertinent information
about capital cases.

Chapter 1 contains an overview of the Defender Services program and the CJA and related statutes.

Chapter 3
relates to the authorization and payment for investigative, expert, and
other services employed on behalf of defendants represented by either
appointed counsel, retained counsel, or proceeding pro se, if such
persons are found by the court to be financially unable to obtain the
necessary services.

The site is maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on behalf of the Office of Defender Services.
To provide comments or suggest improvements to this website, call or email Diane Goldberg, 202-502-2909 or diane_goldberg@ao.uscourts.gov.

The purpose of this site is to function as a clearinghouse for information about the Criminal Justice Act and the National CJA voucher process.